Management Rewired

Article |
Fri, 07/30/2010 - 23:16

In his new book Management Rewired, author Charles S. Jacobs explains how recent discoveries in brain science could change all facets of management, from tactics to sales to leadership. One finding indicates that our emotions can help us make better decisions than our logic, which is usually the opposite of what we are taught.

Scientists discovered a lot during the studies in Management Rewired, including that feedback does not improve performance. According to Jacobs, positive feedback has no effect on what an employee does and negative feedback makes things worse. The book also refutes other common assumptions, asserting that smaller rewards motivate employees more than big ones and having interesting work is more motivating than a pay raise.

Management Rewired challenges many universally-held beliefs about leadership and managing employees and backs its statements with brain science.

"Now that we know so much more about how the mind works, it's imperative that we apply this knowledge to how we manage," says Jacobs. "If we do, many of the most commonly accepted management practices will be abandoned, because brain science teaches us that most of what we do as managers produces the opposite of what we intend."